Ratan Tata, the soft-spoken urbane boss of the Indian giant conglomerate that has acquired Jaguar and Land Rover for $2.3 billion, was understandably very coy about his plans for the two iconic British brands at the Geneva show, as the deal still had to be confirmed.
That was finally done in late March — so what does the future hold for one of Britain's premier marques? One new car that seems a betting certainty is a successor to the fabled E-Type, to be dubbed the F-Type.
In 2000 Jaguar unveiled an F-Type concept at that year's Detroit show to much acclaim. Its swoopy curves and retro machine-turned fascia drew a lot of admiration, but it was ditched in favor of more mainstream products. "If Jaguar had gone ahead with the F-Type, the Boxster would have had a serious rival," Porsche boss, Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking, once declared to me with some relief.
Well, Dr. Wiedeking, it seems that the F-Type might just be resurrected under Jaguar's new owners. Certainly the important players within Jaguar, from design to engineering to marketing, want it.
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But how? The simple (read: inexpensive) route is to chop down the XF's platform, making it into a narrower and shorter 2-seater, while still using the XK's aluminum suspension components to save weight (just as the XF does).
Now that the Tata-Ford deal is sorted, we know that the supply relationship between the two will continue for some years, with Tata relying on the Blue Oval for many of its powertrains. So, the F-Type will probably start with the current V-6 with 235 bhp. But to compete with the Porsche Boxster, Jaguar's engineers will need to find another 70 horses to put it on equal terms. Twin turbos are a possibility.
When it comes to styling you can forget the Wolfgang Reitzle-inspired retro look that gave us the S-Type and current XJ. Jag design boss Ian Callum sees Sir William Lyons' work not as an anchor to replicate, but as an inspiration to launch a new era.
The XK is a step forward in that direction, but don't think a future F-Type will be simply a slimmer version of the XK. Instead, take the E-Type, morph it into the radical C-XF concept and XF production car and then develop those themes to become the F-Type. Jaguar could very easily end up with the coolest sports car of the 21st century.
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